Misadventures in grad school, running, and life

biking

At approximately 8:20am the 25-29 women’s age group began the swim in Jordan Lake for Ironman Raleigh 70.3.

And I wasn’t there.

And it sucks.

It sucks because I set a goal for myself and didn’t reach it. It sucks because I spent months training for it. It sucks because I spent what little extra money I have on it. It sucks because I won’t get that awesome race high/bling/post race euphoria.

But it’s ok.

It’s ok because I chose grad school over this one race. It’s ok because I can enjoy my vacation without feeling exhausted. It’s ok because I’m not going to injure myself by racing hard.

But most importantly it’s ok because this was just one race. There are so many more races I can do that will fit my schedule better right now. So, for the time being, I am putting my long distance triathlon dreams on hold. I can’t spend 8 hrs on a bike every Saturday because I have to spend those 8 hrs rebuilding a 3D printer. I can however, work on a new 5k PR, training for the USA Nationals Half Marathon in November, and improving my olympic distance triathlon PR.

Not to mention I got a brag-worthy shirt and awesome backpack out of it too.

It’s a semi-slow start to my Monday, so I’ve taken advantage of it and tried to plan out my week in my bullet journal. But! Since it’s rest day, here’s my recap of all the training I did last week for Raleigh 70.3!

Miles run – a lot

Miles walked – some

Miles biked – like 50? 60?

Yards swum – too little

Goggles broken – F*$@ing pieces of $&^!

Times I have grossed myself out because I am covered in dried sweat, bug carcasses, and grime – Ewwwwwwww

Bugs eaten – none accidentally! or on purpose for that matter

Roadkill seen – squirrels, raccoons, ummmm some unidentifiable creature that could have possibly been an alien

Time spent training – 7:40 ish

Here’s the illegible training summary for my week. There are only 3 red blocks this time!! I didn’t post last weeks’ because yeah…..that was a lot of red. Now let’s break it down!

Tuesday – Aaaaaand here’s where we started to go downhill (mentally anyways). I got a good 12.7 miles in on the trainer in about 50 min which breaks down to around 15 mph. It’s always hard to wake my legs up and get them moving at a decent pace at the ungodly hour of 6am. I had my 2500 yd swim scheduled for that afternoon, but instead I found that my goggles refused to gogg and instead flooded any time I stuck my head under water. Sooooo the angry Amanda stopped by the store and got 2 pairs of goggles AND a cute running top just because.

Wednesday – Another shit day at work so I left early and went on my long run at home. Usually the hills I tackle on my long run by the NC Art Museum and Meredith College kick my ass. Luckily I was a little out of my head (reminder that running is 80% mental sport) so I did 10.0 miles in 1.5 hrs. A 9:11 min/mile pace. Btw these hills are what tore my IT band back in November so I have a bit of a vendetta against them. Curse you 15% grades!! This really wore my legs out, cause yeah, my head wasn’t actively managing my pace so I went a bit faster than I like to for 9+ mile runs. Oh well. At least it was a good challenge!

Thursday – The weekthatshallnotbenamed continues. I felt pretty good on the swim and even attempted a few flip turns. Although one time I totally missed the wall, I got water up my nose like 5 times, and I thoroughly embarrassed myself in front of the men’s swim team. Yes I know I looked like a fish out of water attempting those flip turns. No need to judge dudes-in-spandex. I did 1800 yds in 38 min (including all my rest breaks) so I’m pretty happy that I did the whole workout and finished 2 min early. It’s the little things ya’ll. The trainer ride ended up being kinda late at night and I watched Game of Thrones for my easy spin. Did 9.9 miles in 50 min. Nice and easy.

Friday – I woke up early to get a morning run in. I regret not taking my phone because those pink clouds/sunrise were gorgeous. Seriously. Vibrant blue sky, pink clouds, and green grass. Love it! Did 4.5 miles in about 42 min and took it pretty easy. I walked a bit during this run since it was supposed to be an easy run. I also walked a bit cause I’m lazy. I also also walked a bit because it was pretty and I like looking at the pretty sky. The work day was pretty rough so I skipped my swim…..sad trombone.

Saturday – Totes did nothing. I drank green beer and grocery shopped like a champ!

Sunday – Brick day! Since it was a lovely day out, I went on my long bike ride outside! The second half of the bike course for Raleigh 70.3 is a LOT of short, steep, rolling hills. Which I knew about, but was completely unprepared for, last year. So, I’ve been riding the course backwards for all my training. I start close to the finish, bike out towards Jordan Lake, and that way, on my way back, I’m a little tired and it kinda simulates race conditions. Brilliant right?!? -looks proud of self- I was gonna take a picture of all my gear that I pack in my car for a brick, but the goldfish memory struck again and I forgot. Anywho, I biked out to a Sonic in Holly Springs where a bunch of teens were hanging out. And OMG I was so uncool. I overheard one girl asking her friends what was wrong with my shoes! 😀 But I hung out for a bit while eating my granola bar and then hopped back on the bike to head home. I kinda regret not getting any fries or tater tots.

All in all, I did about 39 miles in 2.5 hrs. Which is roughly 16 mph. I felt really good the whole time and only started struggling on the last hill up to my car. I then hopped off my bike and put my running shoes on for an easy 20 min run after with some not so awesome jelly legs. It did feel great to finish though!

My main mistake on the whole day was not eating enough before working out for 3 hrs. Oops. I was a little hungry when I got home and may have tried to eat Steve -sorry Steve-.

This is my first ‘rest’ week of the training session so things will be a bit lower intensity this week. Luckily, the weather is supposed to be great so I should be able to get outside for most of it!

Last week ended up a bit cray so the blog got a little neglected. So did training. In fact, most everything got neglected except for grad school. Cause that’s how it goes sometimes. Some weeks, grad school is just like having a 9 to 5 job. You go, work, and come home. Other weeks, grad school is your worst nightmare. Nothing works, people panic, and you end up rediscovering just how brilliant of a multitasker you really are (Seriously, simultaneously fabricating a new material for project A, making a flexible circuit for project B, teleconferencing with a group mate about project C, and talking with a friend about issues with project D). #skillz

Here’s a pic of part of the circuit I made. Not very impressive and pretty simple, but it’s flexible! Those blank spaces are for the rigid components.

Anyways since Mondays are rest days and I choose to update y’all with my training on Mondays…here’s my slightly embarrassing training summary for week 2 of Raleigh 70.3 training.

Workouts completed – maybe half

Workouts skipped – most….oops

Miles run – 16ish

Miles biked – 11?

Yards swum – 1300 (sad trombone)

Bike maintenance performed – Allen wrenches were thrown

Workouts skipped so I could drink beer instead – 4

Priorities y’all –^

AAAAAAAND here’s the daily breakdown

Monday – Nada. Nothing. Rest day. Sighs of contentment.

Tuesday – Biked 11.2 miles on the trainer in 45 min. This was pretty good. I felt like I was able to push my speed a bit more even though at 6am my legs refuse to function. Did my one swim for the week in the afternoon and did about 1300 yds. Probably could have done more, but I wasn’t feeling it. My personal rule for workouts is, when you’re not feeling it (and I mean really not feeling it) do part of the workout. If you’re still not feeling it after you’ve started, then stop. Usually, once you get started, that solves the whole motivation thing and you can finish the workout. When you’re really not feeling it though. Don’t stress it. It’s a sign you need either a mental or physical break; which is just as important to fitness as exercising is.

Wednesday – Long run of 8.2 miles in 1:17 so about a 9:23 min/mile pace. Which is pretty solid for a long run. Especially since it was CRAZY windy. I’m talking like 30 mph headwind on the uphills. Ugh. But it was a seriously gorgeous day out. AND I ran on my favorite bridge, but didn’t take a picture since I didn’t have my phone. Here a nicer pic of what the view looks like…

Awesome right?!? Love this view. The run is a little hilly, but this view is totally worth it.

Thursday – Had a bike and swim planned. Didn’t do either. Had a really long day at work and was really wiped out. Decided that sleep would be the best idea.

Friday – Had a run and swim planned. Again was too tired so I skipped both. It was my third day in a row of non-stop work action. And to be honest, I also had a pretty rough mental day. My med dosage was a little weird and my mood got funky towards the end of the week. On days where my mood goes weird, (read: depressed and I’ll do a post on grad school and depression later, but let’s keep this post a little less sad today, okay? okay.) it can be hard to function, much less find the motivation to cook, workout, make decisions, etc. Luckily I was able to get back to my normal dose of antidepressants the next day and life was good again 🙂

Saturday – Was supposed to be brick day, but Sunday was supposed to be really pretty so I swapped Saturday’s and Sunday’s workouts. I had a short, easy run planned so I decided to join Steve on his long run and turn back halfway. Well it felt so nice outside that I stuck with him for the whole thing! We did about 8.2 easy miles and I gotta say it felt great to move again!

Sunday – Brick day! I decided to adjust my bike position to be a little more aero (read took out some spacers on my handlebars to lower them slightly) and add in a new water bottle holder (a behind the seat holder). Thanks to my non-circular stem, the holder didn’t fit. Tried a zip-tied configuration and it still didn’t work. Threw a wrench at it and that definitely didn’t help. So I gave up and had a beer. On the porch. With Steve and Indy. For the rest of the afternoon. AAAAAAAND the brick was skipped. (hangs head in shame)

Because the day was OMG AMAZING LIKE 70 DEGREES AND SUNNY!! We hung outside and gave Indy some much needed attention

She really enjoyed her spa day with the rejuvenating creek waters

She was happy. We were happy. It was a good day.

Gotta pick up the training this week though. Luckily it’s spring break for the university so it’ll be more of a chill week and I can focus on training.

And just for shits and giggles, here’s some slightly fuzzy pics of Indy when she decided her foot was delicious

As of today, I have completed 1 week of training for Raleigh 70.3 (cheers). Here’s a summary of what I did and how it felt.

Time Training- 7:08

Miles Run – 14.1 mi

Miles Biked – 47.8 mi

Yards Swam(Swum?) – 3312 yds

Trees Hurdled – 3 (6 if you count out and back)

Curse Words Invented – approx. 2

Netflix watched while on the trainer – ummmm like 9 episodes or something idk

Bugs accidentally swallowed – 0!

Times I have had to stop in the middle of swimming a lap because my contacts decided that the back of my eyeball was an ideal location – 10

Now let’s break it down by day! This go around, I’m tracking everything using Training Peaks This training plan is based on workout time rather than workout distance. So rather than saying to bike 10 miles, I need to bike for 40 min. Green blocks are planned workouts I’ve completed. The red blocks are mad at me.

Can you read that?? Neither can I

Lemme break it down for you

Monday – Rest Day!! WooHoo!! Unfortunately this was like the only decent day to actually work out this entire week….boo.

Tuesday – I did 40 min on the trainer and ended up finishing 9 miles. This was a Z2 workout (Zone 2 of heart rate) so it’s not supposed to be fast. Gotta build endurance and stamina first! I was supposed to swim as well, but this was the first day of snow and the pool was closed.

Wednesday – Long run day. I ran on the snow dammit. Not gonna let a little snow stop me after my run in with the Jesus Geese! Was scheduled for 1:10 of running and got 7.5 miles in during that time. For a long run in the snow, it wasn’t a bad pace 🙂

Thursday – snOMG. Power out. Stuck at home. Decided this would be a good test of my mental fortitude on the bike trainer since Netflix was not available. Was slated for a 1:00 recovery ride. Did about 13.4 miles and read a book in the dark for entertainment. Swimming was obviously out. Stupid roads.

Friday – Run and Swim! Although in hindsight, maybe it’s best to do the swim first. Not that I’d know from personal experience or anything 😉 For my 40 min run, I was able to squeeze in 4.5 miles and then I made a mad dash to the pool and did 2000 yds in 1 hr. Most exciting part of this was NEW RUNNING SHOES!

Here’s a super blurry pic. Yes they are pink/yellow tie-die. Total love. ❤

Saturday – Brick day. Basically long bike immediately followed by a run. I did 25.3 mi on the trainer in 1:40 and then walked out to the melty ice/snow to go for a run in the balmy 25 degree (Farenheit) weather. Considering the terrifying conditions (i.e. icy greenway and 3 trees that had fallen in my way) I managed to hurdle all the trees without falling on either the tree or the ice and did 2.1 miles in 19 min. It’s the little successes.

Sunday – ‘k well I was supposed to run, but I also had a swim lesson so I decided to skip the run and just swim. Same thing right? I did 1200 meters in about 40 min with a lot of coaching breaks.

Well that’s about it for training this week! I’ll be sure to update the Gear page with my swimming and biking things.

Ironman Raleigh 70.3 training started this week! So did winter! These two things do not go together! So instead of starting training off with a bang, it’s been more of a fizzle. Oh well.

Mondays are off days. So I took full advantage of that and lazed.

Tuesday….I woke up and went down to the trainer to get a 40 min ride in

It was supposed to be in Zone 2 (heart rate) so I kept it pretty slow and did about 9 miles. When I finished, I walked up to take a shower and saw this!

Surprise snow! A quick check of the weather app said that the snow would stop by 9am so I decided to head in to school with stuff packed for an afternoon swim. This was a mistake. The roads were worse than when it iced!

This time, I wasn’t the only crazy grad student who showed up to work, Shake and David did too 🙂

Grad school is waaaay more fun with friends, btw.

Since it didn’t stop snowing…

and the roads were a mess, the afternoon swim was canceled and I went home to spend the rest of the day with Lisa, Steve and Indy.

Wednesday…aka today…is long run day. Luckily the GIANT SNOWSTORM OF RALEIGH isn’t supposed to start until later tonight, so I did 7.5 miles in 1:07 (the schedule said to run for 1:10)

The swim tomorrow will likely be canceled and I plan to spend the day in warm and pleasant ways. We shall see what happens!